Saturday, May 17, 1924. U.S. Flyers reach Paramashiru.

Notre Dame students clashed with Ku Klux Klan members arriving in South Bend.

By Vallee - Made with freely available DEM data using QGIS and AerialOD, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144444385

Three U.S. Army airplanes flew from Attu to Paramashiru in the Kurils, the longest and most dangerous leg of their transglobal flight.

The route allowed the effort to avoid Soviet airspace.  The US had not yet recognized the USSR.

Attu has been discussed here several times before, Paramushir (Russian: Парамушир, Japanese: 幌筵島, Ainu: パラムシㇼ) has not.  It is a volcanic island in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The Kurils have been mentioned on this blog only once previously. 

Paramushir derives from  Ainu and means “broad island” or “populous island”.   Now a Russian possession, it was a Japanese one at the time.

Black Gold won the 1924 Kentucky Derby.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 16, 1924. Harry Yount.

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Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

With Germany in control of the country, the SS began deporting Hungary's Jews, mostly to Auschwitz.

German lines in Italy began to collapse.

 Pilots hold a briefing on their assignments before taking to the air on their respective missions. Sessa area, Italy. 15 May, 1944.

French Vice-Admiral Edmond Derrien was sentenced to life in prison for turning over elements of the French Fleet to the Germans after the Allied landing in North Africa.

Pvt. Frank G. Schubert moves through an area with full field equipment during training in Helston, Cornwall.

Disembarking MP's, Slapton Sands, England. 15 May 1944.

A terrible training accident happened off of Hawaii.

On May 15, 1944, a line of LST's (amphibious ships) were headed from Mā`alaea Bay back to Pearl Harbor, filled with men and material destined for the invasion of Saipan. These particular ships had been modified to carry other landing craft, 120-foot long LCT's, on their decks. In the middle of the night the rough seas in the channel caused the large ships to roll to the point that the fastenings attaching the LCTs to the decks carried away.

LCT-984 slid from the deck and struck the water with engine room doors open and bow ramp down. The vessel quickly became waterlogged and semi-submerged. On board LST-71 men of the 8th Marine Division were sleeping on the deck and inside their LCT. When LCT-988 fell into the ocean, the next ship in the convoy, LST-29, accidentally rammed the landing craft, causing her to immediately capsize. Eldon Ballinger (Marine Corps League newsletter, n.d.) relates part of the story:

The division was assigned 22 LST's and in the well decks were Amphtracs. We pulled practice landings at Maalaea Bay on Maui and also a mock invasion of Kahoolawe Island...Around 2330 the sea began to get rough and within a two hour period the sea became very turbulent with high waves. The flat bottomed LST rocked back and forth so violently that the straps broke on the stacks of ammunition, falling on the sleeping men. Then the steel cables snapped, releasing the LCT, ripping the large skid beams loose, and the waves washed everything off the deck of the LST's starboard side. The LCT hit the water right-side up, except the ramp was down. I remember a crewman and I were trying to start the engine so that the ramp could be raised. It was then that the trailing LST hit us broadside, flipping the LCT completely upside down. The LCT sank within minutes with those that were still alive going down with the ship.

LCT-999 was also swept into the ocean, but fortunately was later recovered and towed to Pearl Harbor. In all the series of LCT accidents resulted in some 19 men dead or missing (the exact number is not clear).

The U-731 was sunk in the Atlantic by the Allies.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Sergius of Moscow died at age 77.

Lincoln Borglum, who finished his father's work at Mount Rushmore, stepped down as Mount Rushmore National Memorial's first superintendent.

Orson Welles went on the government payroll, at $1.00 per year, as a consultant to the government.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 14, 1944. Route to Rome.

1940s, 1944, Albania, boats and ships, Catholic, Collaborators, German Kriegsmarine, German Luftwaffe, German SS, Italy, Operation Diadem, The Holocaust, Vichy France, World War Two

Tuesday, May 9, 1944. Sevastopol liberated.

The Red Army took Sevastopol.  Axis troops fall back on Cape Kersonessky for evacuation.

Brig. Gen. Andrés Ignacio Menéndez became President of El Salvador after Maximiliano Hernández Martínez fled the country.   He'd only serve until October, when he'd fall in a coup and be exiled to Guatemala.  He'd ultimately move to New York, where he died in 1962 at the age of 83.

J79.

General Electric’s XJ79 turbojet engine makes its first flight in the NB-45 test aircraft over Sche­nectady, N.Y. 

The same engine was developed into the j79 which was used in the Convair B-58, the Lockheed F-104, and the McDonnell Douglas F-4. 

Pretty amazing really.

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 8, 1944. Red Army defeated in Romania again.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, boats and ships, Czechoslovakia, Disaster, Dwight Eisenhower, Lend Lease, Operation Overlord, Romania, Romanian Navy, Second Battle of Târgu Frumos, Weapons, World War Two

Friday, May 9, 1924. Scottish question results in chaos.

Portrait taken on this day in 1924.

President Coolidge's attempt to delay the implementation of restrictions on Japanese immigration was defeated by the House of Representatives.

George Buchanan introduced a Scottish Home Rule bill, but the debated descended into chaos and Parliament adjourned for the day.

Administrative devolution was granted to Scotland in 1885.  Home rule in the form of the Scottish Parliament was granted in 1999.

In the US, Washington D.C. has home rule, unfortunately.

The Westland Dreadnought was destroyed in a crash.

Air mail service from Belfast to Liverpool was established.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 7, 1924. Liberty.

1920s, 1924, German Weimar Republic, Labor unrest, Mexico, Mining, Peru, Politics, Ruhr, Socialism, South America, The Press

Monday, May 8, 1944. Red Army defeated in Romania again.

The Second Battle of Târgu Frumos ended in Axis victory, as had the first, thereby preserving Romania from Soviet occupation for the time being.

Meanwhile, Romanian troops, along with Germans, were being evacuated from Sevastopol and Crimea.  It can't help but be noted that at this point in the war, Romania desperately needed Romanian troops in Romania.  Of course, they had figured prominently in the Axis advance into Ukraine, including Crimea, earlier.

Irrespective of the Axis victory near their country, the Czechoslovak government in exile granted permission for the Red Army to enter and liberate their country in a convention in London.  Clearly, they could see what was coming.

Gen. Eisenhower selected June 5 as the new date for the commencement of Operation Overlord.

The U.S. Senate voted to extend Lend Lease to June 1945.  Wait until Marjorie Taylor Greene hears about that . . . 

A TBM-1C making a training flight over Cape Cod went down when a fuse went off on a 100 lb bomb the lane was carrying caught on fire. The pilot attempted to and the plane but the open bomb bay doors rapidly sank it, taking the crew,  Lt.(Jg.) Norwood H. Dobson, (27),  AOM3/c John William Dahlstrom and ARM3/c Arthur N. Levesque down with it.

Sgt Floyd A. Ott, Jerone, Idaho, of 41st Div., cleans rust off M2 machine gun by means of a buffer. Hollandia, New Guinea. 8 May, 1944.  The gun may very well still be in service.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 7, 1944. Hitting Berlin, Assaulting Sapun.

1940s, 1944, Berlin Germany, boats and ships, Canadian Navy, Crimea, Franklin Roosevelt, New Guinea, Polish Army, Red Army, Royal Air Force, Siege of Sevastopol, U.S. Air Force, Weapons, World War Two

Saturday, May 6, 1944. Shelling Sevastapol.

Reconnaissance photograph, Normandy.

The Red Army began its attack on Sevastapol with a massive artillery strike, the Red Army norm.

The Biltmore Conference opened in New York City. It was a convention of Zionist meeting in the context of the Second World War at a point at which the mass murder of Jews was fairly openly known, and was certainly known amongst Jews.  The topic was the British Palestinian Mandate.

The USS Gunard attacked the Take Ichi convoy, sinking three freighters.

The U-473 was sunk southeast of Ireland by the Royal Navy.

The first flight of the Mitsubishi A7M, the intended replacement for the famous A6M "Zero", occured.  Only seven of the carrier planes would be built before the end of the war.

The U66 was rammed and sunk by the USS Buckley off of Cape Verde.

Pensive won the Kentucky Derby.

MGM released the Million Dollar Cat episode of Tom and Jerry.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 5, 1944. Counterattack at Imphal.

1940s, 1944, Battle of Imphal, British Army, German Luftwaffe, India, Indian Army, Mohandas Gandi, Operation U-Go, Slovenia, World War Two, Yugoslavia

Saturday, April 27, 1974. Aeroflot disater, War of Attrition winds down.

An Aeroflot Il-18 crashed within site of the Leningrad airport, killing all 109 passengers. The Soviet press didn't report on the event, in spite of the hysteria which understandably broke out at the airport.

The last major fighting in the Syrian-Israeli War of Attrition took place.

Last prior edition:

Friday, April 26, 1974. A Portuguese military coup turns towards democracy.

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Monday, April 17, 1944. The Uman–Botoșani Offensive Concludes, First Shots of the Greek Civil War, The Martyrdom of Fr. Max Josef Metzger, A Mystery Flight, Up Front in U.S. newspapers.

Soviet soldiers in Ukraine examining a destroyed Panther tank. By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113828084

The Uman–Botoșani Offensive concluded in a wide-ranging Soviet victory.  The Soviets had advanced 190 miles in one month, cleared southwestern Ukraine and entered Romania and Moldova.   The offensive had been, moreover, carried out during spring mud season, the rasputitsa.  It was one of the most successful Soviet advances of the war.

The Take-Ichi sendan (竹一船団, "Bamboo No. One" convoy) left Shanghai with two infantry divisions to reinforce the Philippines and western New Guinea.  Its story was to be fateful and strategically important.

Following an attack on his unit by Greek Communists on Orthodox Easter Monday, Greek army officer and partisan, Col. Dimitrios Psarros (Δημήτριος Ψαρρός), founder of the partisan National and Social Liberation organization was executed in an early indication of how things were going to go as the Axis control of Greece loosened.  Greece would be in a civil war before the end of World War Two.

Fr. Max Josef Metzger, German Catholic Priest and founder of the German Catholic Peace Association, was executed by the Nazi German state.  He is regarded as a Catholic martyr.

The U-342 was sunk in the North Atlantic by a RCAF PBY.

Civilian airliner Deutsche Lufthansa D-AOCA, a Junkers Ju-52/3m was shot down on scheduled service E.17 from Vienna to Athens with stops in Belgrade, Sofia, and Thessaloniki. An Allied fighter sweep of Belgrade mistook it for a military aircraft.  Five of its seven occupants were killed.

A Royal Air Force Warwick passenger plane went down over the UK, creating a mystery.  As the recovery of its doomed passengers occured, large amounts of cash were found with them.

United Features Syndicate began to run Bill Mauldin's Up Front in U.S. newspapers.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 16, 1944. Black Sunday.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Artillery, Black Sunday, boats and ships, Chodaczków Massacre, Crimea, Romania, Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Forces, The Holocaust, U.S. Air Force, United Service Organization, Weather

Sunday, April 16, 1944. Black Sunday.

The RAF hit Romania for the first time. On the same day, the Soviet Air Forces hit Galatz. 

The Germans began to gather Hungarian Jews, some 800,000 in number, into ghettos.  Prior to this phase of the war, Hungarian Jews had been oppressed by their own nation, but not subject to deportation to the death camps.

The Red Army took Yalta.  The Germans attempted to push the Red Army back over the Dnestr.

A large air raid was staged on Hollandia, Indonesia.  The mission was successful with no losses, but the aircraft ran into a severe weather front on the return and 46 of the 170 aircraft in the raid went down.  The day acquired the name "Black Sunday" as a result.

The attacking force was made up of  B-24s, B-25s and A-20s, escorted by P-38s

862 Poles were killed by Ukrainian SS troops of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division. (1st Galician) in Chodaczków Wielki, part of pre war Poland which is now Velykyi Khodachkiv, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine.

The Parczew partisans helped take over that town in Poland on this day.

The U-550 was sunk off of Nantucket.  It was found in 2012:

Search team finds U-boat off Nantucket

African American artillerymen were in action on Bougainville.

155 Long Tom of B Btry, 49th Coastal Artillery, being loaded for firing.  Bougainville, April 16, 1944.  Section 1 of this unit, which had not been deployed overseas, would be disbanded the following month as the need for coast artillery faded.  Section 2, depicted, here, had obviously been converted to heavy field artillery.

1st section gun crew, Btry. A, 593rd F.A. Bn, load 105mm howitzer, preparatory to firing. Bougainville. 16 April, 1944.

USO events were going on in the UK.

In the US, General Robert E. Wood, former head of the America First Committee, stated that there was no connection between the pre-Pearl Harbor organization and the current party which was then led by the Reverend Gerald Smith, its presidential candidate that year.  Smith would receive 1,780, votes for the Oval Office, most of those from Texas and Michigan.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, April 15, 1944. Romania attacked from the air, Teenagers lose at Tarnopol, Politics in Minnesota, Hydro-Québec

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, boats and ships, Cameras, Chichijima, Eastern Front, Farmers Labor Party, German Army, Iwo Jima, Operation Guidance, Polesti Romania, Politics, Romania, Royal Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy

Wednesday, April 16, 1924. Flyer forced down.

Germany accepted the Dawes Plan.

Romania announced that it had settled its debts with Italy.

Senator Warren was reported as having voted against the Japanese Exclusion Act.

And an aircraft went down in the Around the World flight.

Henry (Enrico) Mancini was born.  He enlisted in the Army upon turning age 18 in 1943 and interestingly served in the 28th Air Force Band before being reassigned overseas to the 1306th Engineers Brigade in France.  He was the writer of many famous movie scores.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, April 15, 1924. Opening day.

1920s, 1924, Army, baseball, Calvin Coolidge, cavalry, Equine Transportation, Sports

Saturday, April 15, 1944. Romania attacked from the air, Teenagers lose at Tarnopol, Politics in Minnesota, Hydro-Québec

PB4Y Photo Reconnaissance Liberators on a photo mission in the South Pacific , April 15, 1944.

PhoM1c E.S. Ujvarosy and PhoM1c R.M. Rhodes check their cameras, magazines, and data sheets before taking off on a mission in a Navy PB4Y photo reconnaissance plane. Cameras, left to right: F56-40”, two K-18’s 24”, K-17-12” and a K-17-06”. Lying on its side is vertical view finder. April 15, 1944.

The US 15th Air Force sent 500 sorties to Bucharest and Ploesti.  The war had reached the point where the Western Allies air attacks were now directly assisting the Soviet offensive in the east.

The Red Army took Tarnopol. German commander Gen. von Neindorff was killed in the fighting and nearly the entire German garrison was lost.

The original German commander at Tarnopal had deemed the defense hopeless and had reported it so.  The garrison of the doomed city was made up of new troops, most of whom were recent German teenage conscripts.  Only 55 of some 4,000 troops escaped the city.

British X class submarine, in this case the X25.

In Operation Guidance a British midget mine laying submarine, the X24 attacked the floating dock at Bergen, but the raid was not successful as the boat's charges were placed on a large German merchant vessel rather than the dock.

Aircraft from the USS Yorktown raided Chichijima and Iwo Jima.

African American troops on Bougainville, April 15, 1944.

The Minnesota Democratic Farm Labor Party was founded by the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the larger, yes larger, Farmer–Labor Party.

The left wing Farm Labor Party had been hugely successful in Minnesota. Founded in 1918, it's run to 1944 is one of the most successful state third party stories in the US.

Montreal Light, Heat & Power was taken over by provincial entity Hydro-Québec.

Last prior edition:

Friday, April 14, 1944. Indian drama.

1940s, 1944, Bangladesh, Battle of Kohima, China Burma India Theater, Eastern Front, India, Indian Army, Indian National Army, Pakistan, The Law of Unintended Consequences, Ukrainian National Army, World War Two